Finding Comfort in Nightmares
by highlyfashionablesociopath
Summary: A few years after the island, the boys' lives take a turn for the worst. After a lot of struggling, Ralph is finally on his way to Uni when he sees a familiar face, and stops dead in his tracks.


A few years ago, there was a story that was making headlines on the news about a group of boys discovered stranded on an island, two dead. The press, as it always would, ignored any personal boundaries to try and get an interview with any of the survivors, even if the survivors' only wish was to be left alone on the subject. All of the boys were thoroughly in shock when the naval officer came. None of them knew what to say or do, except cry. So, they cried. And they kept crying all the way home, even if it eventually dismounted into small sniffles and sobs. The other officers on board of the ship were understanding enough, and didn't push any of them to talk right away. But when they finally did open up, there were certainly consequences. Some, if not all, of the boys ended up with some type of PTSD, especially Ralph, who had to be sent to therapy for years. Roger was trialed as an adult for the murder of Piggy and Simon, and ended up in jail. Jack, as he was not directly involved as Roger was, got lucky and only got sent to juvenile court.

As the years passed, Ralph still found he had nightmares of the occurrences on the island, but he was doing better. Jack had eventually gotten out of juvie, and was on house arrest for a while. It just happened to be on Ralph's way to university that he passed the home that belonged to the Merridews, something that Ralph was blissfully ignorant of. He had taken up the major of criminal justice, hoping to right some wrongs that were made on the island. Imagine his surprise when he was riding by on his bike that he saw a familiar flash of red hair. He immediately slammed the breaks on his bike, almost flipping over the handlebars. He edged closer to the house carefully, just checking to see if his suspicions were correct. His worst nightmare was realized when the name on the mailbox read _Merridew_. Suddenly, the flash of red hair turned around to face him, with a puzzled expression on his face when the fair haired boy on his lawn had broken down into tears. Jack edged closer to him slowly, as if he made any sudden moves, Ralph would run away like a frightened rabbit. He cautiously rested a hand on the blond boy's shoulder, and frowned when he shirked away, shaking his head and backing away like he was afraid Jack was going to hurt him…

_Oh._

"Ralph…?" Jack inquired softly, even though he already knew the answer. The ginger bit down on his lip, trying to refrain from breaking down crying himself. When the other boy said nothing, but dropped slowly down on the ground in the fetal position, as if it would protect him from anything Jack would do to him, he finally began to cry as well.

"Ralph…I'm so sorry. I…" His voice cracked. Ralph looked up at him with tears in his eyes, and Jack saw a shimmer of hope. That shimmer was diminished when Ralph looked down again, shaking his head and sobbing. Jack knelt down beside him, hesitantly wrapping an arm around him, worried what Ralph's reaction might be. Ralph tensed a bit, but slowly relaxed when he realized Jack wasn't going to hurt him. Ralph leaned into the contact slightly, finally finding comfort from the nightmare he so often dreamed about. The two stayed in each other's arms for a few moments, a comfortable silence spreading between them as they forgave each other for past sins. After a while, Jack separated and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, the tears he had just shed forgotten. He smiled at Ralph, who smiled shakily back at him. Jack then stood up, reaching a hand out to Ralph, who took it and helped himself up from the ground. Jack cleared his throat.

"You know, we should get together for lunch sometime. Catch up, and all that." He dismissed the anxious look on Ralph's face with another smile. "No meat, though. I'm a vegetarian now."

Seeing the fear and anxiety drain from Ralph's face and being replaced with relief and joy made Jack feel the emptiness he felt from when he left the island finally close. The two boys hugged again, enjoying each other's presence. Something they hadn't been able to do since their first days on the island.


End file.
